MONTREAL and CALGARY – Quebecor said Monday that it has finalized the sale of seven wireless spectrum licences outside of Quebec to Shaw after receiving regulatory approval from both the Competition Bureau and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.
The $430 million cash deal, first announced in June, includes three 700 MHz licences covering southern Ontario and the entirety of Alberta and British Columbia, and four 2500 MHz licences covering Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver, all originally held by Quebecor-owned Videotron.
The proceeds will enable Videotron to continue investing in the development of its network in Quebec and Eastern Ontario,…
Continue Reading
WINNIPEG – Just in time for Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg, Shaw Communications said that it will be providing residents and visitors with free access to Shaw Go WiFi at thousands of hotspots across the city from Friday, July 21 to Monday, August 21.
Fans and visitors who share their experiences can use Shaw Canada Summer Games Snapchat filter to make a difference for the next generation of athletes. Each time someone uses the Shaw Canada Summer Games Snapchat filter during the Canada Games, Shaw will make a donation to support KidSport Manitoba up to a total of $25,000.
"As…
Continue Reading
THE RECENT CRTC DECISION to reset broadcaster minimum spending requirements on programs of national interest (PNI) to a lowest-common-denominator level of 5% (see here for more) dealt a blow that the Canadian television industry is still reeling from. In the aftermath, the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) filed a petition to Cabinet seeking to set aside or refer back the decision.
There was very little in the decision that provided a rationale as to why PNI minimums were so summarily slashed, making a letter that former CRTC Chair Jean-Pierre Blais sent to Hedy Fry, the Chair of the…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Bell has expanded its Quad Band LTE-A network to almost 40 cities across eight provinces.
After launching in April, Bell said Wednesday that Quad Band LTE-A is now live in the following locations:
– Ontario: Ancaster, Barrie, Brampton East, Burlington, Kitchener, London, Niagara Falls, Oshawa, Pickering, Scarborough, and Welland;
– New Brunswick: Dieppe, Edmundston, Moncton, New Maryland, and Riverview;
– Newfoundland & Labrador: Bay Roberts, Mount Pearl, and St. John’s;
– Nova Scotia: Halifax, Dartmouth, Lake Echo, Middleton, and Sydney Mines;
– PEI: Charlottetown;
– Quebec: Montreal;
– Alberta: Calgary, Airdrie, Sherwood Park, Edmonton, Fort Saskatchewan, St. Albert, Ponoka, Sexsmith, Redcliff, and Slave Lake;
– British…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – Some of the project evaluation and eligibility criteria proposed by the CRTC for its new broadband deployment fund must be altered or it risks repeating the deferral account fiasco, according to comments on a new broadband funding regime.
Introduced as part of the Basic Service Objective decision last year, the proposed funding model would provide much needed capital to broadband deployment projects in unserved and underserved communities across the country. It also set a new standard called the Universal Service Objective (USO) with a minimum requirement of 50/10 Mbps.
In comments to Telecom Notice of…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Ross Video has received an Emmy Award for its contributions the Media Object Server (MOS) Group.
The MOS Group was recently honored by The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with a 2017 Technology & Engineering Emmy for the development and standardization of the MOS protocol, which has become a foundational technology for modern television news environments.
MOS was developed to address the need to connect a variety of device types from multiple vendor companies in a television news environment, from teleprompters to graphics systems, video servers, newsroom editorial systems and automation. The evolving protocol is supported and…
Continue Reading
CALGARY – Shaw Communications credited its BlueSky TV for an increase in cable TV subscribers for the first time since 2010.
After years of TV customer losses, Shaw said Wednesday that it added nearly 13,000 cable TV subscribers in the three months ended May 31, compared to a loss of about 27,000 subs in Q3 2016, after launching BlueSky TV across its entire cable video footprint earlier this year.
Revenue from continuing operations for the quarter of $1.31 billion increased by 2.8% over the same period last year, while operating income before restructuring costs and amortization for the quarter dipped to $550…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Corus Entertainment CEO Doug Murphy says the company is making progress on its goal of “returning to growth” after posting double-digit gains in third quarter revenues and profits.
Corus said Tuesday that net income attributable to shareholders for the quarter ended May 31, 2017 was $66.7 million, versus a $15.8 million net loss in the same period last year, which includes business acquisition, integration and restructuring costs of $4.6 million. Adjusting for the impact of this item resulted in an adjusted net income attributable to shareholders of $70.1 million in the quarter.
Consolidated revenues for the quarter of $461.6 million…
Continue Reading
HAMILTON – When Comcast, the largest cable company in North America, needed to upgrade its network to handle the massive demands of delivering IP video at scale, there was no where to turn.
No vendor could provide the complete solution Comcast needed. So the company developed one itself, Neill Kipp, a distinguished engineer and software architect for Comcast, told last week’s Clearcable Networks Technology Summit in Hamilton, Ont.
“I think what is intriguing about the Comcast story is that they turned to open source to find a solution. A lot of small operators think open source is not viable,” said Rob…
Continue Reading
CALGARY – Shaw Communications and Vancouver’s Mobi by Shaw Go bike share system are setting the wheels in motion this Canada Day long weekend to help residents give back to the community.
Shaw pledged to donate $1 to Ronald McDonald House British Columbia and Yukon for every ride Vancouver residents and visitors take on Mobi by Shaw Go from Friday, June 30 to Monday, July 3. The initiative is part of Shaw's Canada 150 birthday wishes campaign to recognize the people and organizations who are doing exceptional work to improve the lives of children and youth.
"Whether you're biking to work,…
Continue Reading
